nodes
Closed beta
Desktop builds
The desktop app is invite-only while it's in beta. Enter the code you were sent and the current macOS build is yours — no account needed; you make one inside the app.
nodes for macOS
Before you open it
These builds are not signed with an Apple Developer ID, so macOS quarantines anything downloaded through a browser and refuses to open it — with "Nodes is damaged and can't be opened", which looks like a broken download but isn't. Move the app to Applications, then run this once:
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Nodes.app
It strips the download flag from that one app and nothing else. It is needed because there's no paid Apple signature on these builds yet, not because of anything the app does. You only need it for this first install: later updates are fetched by the app itself, and macOS does not quarantine those.
Your data is safe across updates
Replacing the app doesn't touch your collection: cards, scheduling and
settings live in
~/Library/Application Support/com.example.ankibutbetter/,
outside the app bundle, and your account syncs to the cloud regardless.
Then what?
Make an account inside the app, then read the guide — it covers getting your first cards in and what the four answer buttons actually mean, which is the whole of what you need on day one. Migrating from Anki? Start here instead.